ESPN Insider Believes Lane Kiffin Has 'Strong Candidacy' for Florida Gators Job

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin remains in headlines this week with the rumor mill circulating surrounding the Florida Gators job.

After the Florida administration parted ways with Billy Napier on Sunday afternoon, all focus then turned to Kiffin as a potential candidate for the head coaching gig.

The "Coaching Hot Board" has seen names from Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman to former Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin rumored to be "candidates," but one thing is certain - Kiffin is a coach the Gators are doing their due diligence on.

ESPN college football analyst Pete Thamel believes Kiffin has a "strong candidacy" for the Florida Gators head coaching gig where he broke it down on ESPN's College GameDay podcast.

Ole Miss Rebels Football: Lane Kiffin. — Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

“I would say this about Lane Kiffin’s candidacy at Florida — I think it’s a very strong candidacy,” Thamel stated. “I think whether it be administratively in the president’s office, or whether it be in the athletics office, Kiffin is a divisive guy. The performance is the performance, but Kiffin constantly instigates brushfires, right? He’s done it for 20 years.

“In fact, he really became an instigator by just hammering when he was at Tennessee. You remember this? There was a famous signing day where he said Meyer broke the rules. Now, Lane has calmed down. He does yoga. But you are never going to be uniformly aligned with Lane Kiffin if you’re an administration, because there is difficulty that comes with him.

“I think Lane’s a great coach and he’s grown and matured from what we’ve seen. I do think it would be fun to see him at Florida because he would bring back that maverick kind of style that brought with his famous quips.”

Last week, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter stated that the program is eyeing a new deal with Kiffin - as Indiana did with Curt Cignetti - where they are proactively working towards getting the framework together.

On Sunday, Kiffin addressed local reporters in Oxford for his weekly Zoom press conference where he commented on the recent reports and buzz surrounding the Florida opening.

“That’s awesome that [AD Keith Carter] said those things, and I don’t take that for granted,” Kiffin said. “Extremely appreciative of how everyone’s been here. Keith, the chancellor, everybody. So, (I’m) flattered that that would even be being discussed halfway through the season. But I don’t deal with that."

Now, as the rumor mill heats up, Kiffin remains a head coach at the forefront of the conversation surrounding the Florida Gators gig.

More Ole Miss News:

ESPN Releases FPI Top-25 Rankings Following Week 8 With Ole Miss Football Moving Up

Report: Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin a ‘Top Candidate' for Florida Gators Job

Paul Finebaum Predicts Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin Would Win Title With Florida

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.